Death of The Red Lion
by wildblues
Summary: In her mind, the image of a grand ship sailed, with the glorious and clever Captain Aryll standing proudly at the very front of the ship. [Wind Waker]


**Title** Death of The Red Lion

**Fandom** The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker  
**Genre** Action/Adventure  
**Rating** G  
**Warnings** None  
**Pairings** None  
**Finished** Yes

**Comments:** I've had this idea for years. I always thought that after staying with the Pirates for a while, Aryll came very accustomed to their presence, and was fascinated by them. Particularly Tetra. Idolizing Tetra, Aryll decides she wants her own crew, and hires up the two boys in the village, Joel and his Brother Zill (That kid, and the snotty-nosed one) and go on adventures.

* * *

The wind whistled through the tattered old sheet, causing it to flap around wildly. A little girl groaned in displeasure, and quickly stood up to tie the end of the sheet to the mast again. She then giggled gleefully and sat down in the boat carefully, trying not to rock it too much.

The girl was young, around ten years of age. She had short blonde hair pulled back into pigtails, and the stray strands were tucked carelessly behind her long, pointed ears. She wore a light summer dress, but it was hidden by an oversized, long and heavy old coat. She always wore it when she wanted to play, and the only game she would ever play was 'Pirates'.

The girl turned to her crew, which consisted of two boys and their pig. She laughed heartily, and handed a hyoi pear to the seagull that had perched itself on her shoulder.

"Alright men, are y'all ready?"

The older boy gave a hearty 'Aye-Aye, Captain!' but the second remained quiet.

"Aryll, why do you always get to be the captain? It's not fair at all!" he said, wiping his nose on his sleeve a little, but not too much. He held the pig close to him when he spoke, and glared hard at the girl.

"Why? Because I"m the only real pirate here, of course!" Aryll argued, placing her hands on her hips, "None of you have been with real pirates, have you? How else would you know how they work? I have, therefore, I'm the most suitable captain here, Zill!"

Zill's mouth turned to a frown, "No way! I bet you didn't even hang around with those pirates, you're lying."

Sighing heavily, Aryll turned away and began to check their ship for any problems. The ship was a ratty old thing, but it was very sturdy. It was made of several scrap pieces of wood that Aryll and her crew had nailed together with Orca's help. Any cracks were filled, any imperfections were fixed, and Aryll treasured the little boat like it were part of her family. It had its very own dock near her grandmother's house, and Aryll had even persuaded a few villagers to help her build a shelter. The mast was sturdy as the rest of the little boat, but the sail could use replacing. Several voyages had worn the cloth down to tatters - it would soon be useless.

She had proudly dubbed her fantastic ship _The Red Lion_ , remembering a story her brother had told her about his ship. A ship called_ The King of Red Lions._ She caught a glimpse of the ship once, and it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. It was a bright red, with a large said, and an intricately carved lion's head pointing out towards the sea. Her brother had since left in that ship with her pirate friends, but he kept in contact with her through letters. Quill brought them to her almost every day, and she looked forward to reading them with anticipation.

Zill sniffed again, "Aryll! If I'm not Captain once, I'm quitting."

Aryll shrugged, "Fine then. There's more treasure for Joel and I, then. If you don't want to come along, it's your loss."

Joel's eyes brightened, and he grinned, clasping his wooden sword tighter. He laughed at his brother, who sat down in the boat, huffing. His response made Joel's smile fade a little bit, but he was still excited to go on an adventure.

"Fine then." Zill said, nearly tossing the pig back to shore before they pushed off from the dock.

Aryll shakily stood up, trying not to rock the boat. She held a wooden sword as well, and pointed it in the direction the boat was slowly floating towards. The seagull that was perched upon her shoulder squawked in excitement as she cried out, "Onward to Adventure!"

Such a cheesy line had been used by her countless times before, but she had claimed she couldn't think of anything better, and challenged her crewmates to think of something better if they had a problem. Both Joel and Zill said nothing, because while they were fairly smart boys, they couldn't think of anything better either. So the motto stuck, and had been used at the beginning of every voyage to date.

She quickly whipped out her spyglass, scanning the shore with it. She soon spotted something glistening on the water only a few metres offshore, so she quickly made an attempt to steer their makeshift boat in that direction. In her mind, the image of a grand ship sailed, with the glorious and clever Captain Aryll standing proudly at the very front of the ship. Her hair blew in the staggering sea breeze, and she smiled, feeding her seagull another hyoi pear. Her crew stood behind her, proud and at attention, glad to be in the service of such a magnificent lady...

She was snapped out of her daydream when the boat scraped against a rock, and the boat lurched to one side. All three children held fast to the side of the boat, crying out in surprise. Soon enough, Joel gasped and quickly pushed down on the bottom of the boat.

There was a leak.

Aryll scrambled to the end of the boat, causing it to fill up faster. The seagull screeched in a panic, and Aryll quickly applied pressure to the crack in the boat. But the water kept gushing through her fingers. She soon realised it was futile to try and save _The Red Lion_ , and with a heavy heart, she pulled her hands from the crack.

"Abandon ship!" she cried out, and together, the three of them hopped from the boat to the rock before the boat disappeared beneath the water. Soon, the entire boat's body had sunk, and the mast stuck proudly out from the water, pointing up tot he sky. Aryll stood dumbfounded.

She thumped a hand to her chest, and the others followed suit, " _The Red Lion_ served us well. I hate to see such a magnificent ship go down." She lowered her head in mourning. The other three did so as well, and the silence was only broken by Zill's sniffling.

A moment later, Aryll and her crew jumped into the water. They were still fairly close to shore, and could easily swim back. Upon reaching the shore, Aryll took one last look at her grand ship. Its mast still pointed skyward.

And the tattered sail waved goodbye to her.


End file.
